Number of pigs born alive in parity 1 sows associated with lifetime performance and removal hazard in high- or low-performing herds in Japan

Reproductive performance, lifetime performance and removal hazard were studied in commercial herds in order to detect prolific sows at an early-stage. Reproductive performance measurements that we assessed were number of pigs born alive (PBA) per litter, weaning-to-first-mating interval and farrowing rate (FR). Lifetime performance measurements included lifetime average PBA and lifetime average nonproductive days. In total, 213,514 parity records and 47,024 lifetime records of 96 herds were included. Sows were categorized into three groups based on the lower and upper 25th percentiles of PBA in parity 1:8 pigs or fewer, 9-12 pigs and 13 pigs or more. The herds were classified into high- and low-performing herds on the basis of the 50th percentile of pigs weaned per mated female per year. To compare the measurements between the sow groups taking account for the herd productivity groups, multivariate and single response models were applied to reproductive performance from first-farrowing and lifetime performance, respectively. A hazard model was fitted to survival data. Sows having 13 or more PBA in parity 1 had 1.0-1.4 more PBA per litter in all subsequent parities (P < 0.05), 1.2-1.5% higher FR in parities 2-4 (P < 0.05) and 3.4-3.7 higher lifetime average PBA than sows having 8 or lower PBA (P < 0.01). However, there were no differences between the sow groups for weaning-to-first-mating interval in any parity (P > 0.05). There were two-way interactions between the sow and herd groups for FR in parity 2 (P = 0.01) and lifetime average nonproductive days (P = 0.046). In low-performing herds, sows having 13 or more PBA in parity 1 had 3.9% higher FR at their next farrowings than sows having 8 or fewer PBA (P < 0.05), although no such difference was found for high-performing herds (P > 0.05). Sows in the low-performing herds with 13 or more PBA in parity 1 also had 2.3 fewer lifetime average nonproductive days than sows having 8 or fewer PBA (P = 0.01), although again no similar difference was found for high-performing herds (P = 0.96). The removal hazards for sows having 13 or more PBA in parity 1 were lower than those for sows having 8 or fewer PBA (P < 0.01), with no difference in hazards between the herd groups (P = 0.62). In conclusion, PBA in parity 1 may help predict a prolific sow or low PBA sow.